Labor, Delivery, and all the Rest

        On Tuesday, May 13, 2014 I decided I wanted this little guy out of me.  I wanted to hold him and love on him like everyone talks about.  So, I did what my sister swears got her into labor.  I inserted 2 primrose oil capsules up my...hoo-haa right before bed.  I actually thought they would fall out.  To my pleasant surprise they didn't.
       On Wednesday, May 14th I woke up and had no contractions so I was really bummed and thought, "Well, I guess I better go to work then."  At this point I already had had a sub covering my class for the last few days just in case I didn't come in to work.  At work the day before, I was just doing a little bit of this and that so I planned on doing that again today (Wednesday).
        I was at work grading papers at my desk around 9:30 when my contractions started.  I actually didn't know what they were, I just knew they hurt really bad and that they came in waves.  I began texting my mom and sister asking them if they knew what they were.  They believed them to be contractions so I started timing them on my phone app.  They were already approximately 4 and a half minutes apart and about a minute long each.  They were already getting pretty strong and I just couldn't work through them any more.  I packed up my things and told the front office I had to go home.
        The drive home was only like 7 minutes.  I had to pull over because I was having a contraction that hurt incredibly bad and I really couldn't focus on the road at that moment.  When it subsided, I continued home.
        As soon as I got home, I called Jordan and told him the situation.  He was at work too so he had to wrap some things up and come home.  Meanwhile, I was in contact with my mom and sister via text conversations and phone calls.  I tried to work through a contraction or 2 on my stability ball because my sister said that might help.  All of a sudden, my breakfast was coming up and I barely made it to the bathroom in time.  That really made me nervous-I'm not sure why.
          Jordan got home lickety-split and was in serious mode.  He gathered all our things and we headed to the hospital.  We got to triage where they checked me pretty quick.  I knew I had to be at least 4 or 4 1/2 centimeters dilated because that is what my doctor had said that Monday, the 12th.  When they said I was at 8 centimeters I blurted out, "serious?!"  I was definitely surprised especially because I have heard numerous times that your first baby is typically a longer labor.

Jordan took a photo of me in triage...you can tell I was NOT a happy camper...and pretty huge!

         They wheeled me down to the delivery room and got me an epidural right away.  I was really nervous about that because I had seen it performed on YouTube and it looked scary!  Plus, I heard a story of someone's sister having really bad headaches after getting her epidural.  I made Jordan hold my hands and that made everything okay magically! :)
        After that it was literally just a waiting game.  I laid there for a couple hours comfortably and watched some tv.  My doctor's office was just down the street so they called the doctor over around 3:30 pm and that's when Lincoln made his appearance.  The doctor almost didn't make it in time.  The nurses called someone else in and my doctor came in right before I delivered.  I'm talking, within a couple minutes!
        I was sure I would cry when Lincoln was born but I was just in total shock I think.  It was just so strange to see a baby on the other side of me, and the fact that I had grown him.  It was really just so amazing!!!  He hardly cried when he was born.  They had to rub his body quite a bit to make him cry.
        We did skin-to-skin right away afterward and it was so unreal!  I felt like I was having an out of body experience.  It was this amazing happiness and joy I've never felt before.
         So from start to finish my labor was 8 hours.  Lincoln was 6 pounds, 6 ounces, 19 inches long...and I tore.  It is so sad that a baby that small could make me tear.  I'm not sure how bad, but I felt the stitches go in.  Let me just tell you, it hurt!  My epidural didn't cover that I guess.  My doctor gave me some local anesthetic and it still hurt.  I'm just glad it's over with now.  I am betting I could've labored without an epidural but I'm SO glad I got it anyway.  It made the experience so much more tolerable I guess you could say.
         We stayed in the hospital for a total of 2 days.  It was nice to be able to continually call the nurses when I wasn't sure about something or when I didn't feel good.  They were so nice and helpful.  I would definitely have my baby in a hospital next time too.  I highly recommend Banner Gateway also.  Everyone there was great!
        Those first couple nights were SO tiring because I had to figure out how to feed Lincoln and do it every 2 hours.  Long story short-Lincoln was so worth it.  So worth the 5-ish months of sleepless nights, backaches, nausea, weight gain, everything!  I love my new family SO much!

I just received my epidural here.  I was feeling SO much better!

Lincoln's official weight!

The new proud daddy!!!

Adoring my new baby.

A little skin to skin time.

Our first family photo!

Lincoln all bundled up and waiting to go home.

Lincoln's first time in the bassinet!  (Yes, I know his outfit is too big).  I didn't anticipate him being so incredibly small!